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Synchronizing Adjustments
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Many who observe the Biblical holy days have been persuaded to reject the postponement rules of the Hebrew Calendar. They are convinced that these rules were not instituted by God but were added to the calendar by the rabbis of early Judaism. This false teaching has been promoted by modern rabbis who claim that their forerunners "fixed" the calendar. According to this view, the postponement rules are the work of Hillel II, a renowned rabbi of the 4th century AD.
This teaching has gained wide acceptance despite the fact that there is no evidence to support it. To the contrary, historical records in the Babylonian and Jerusalem Talmuds contain word-for-word discussions of the postponement rules by rabbis who lived eight centuries before Hillel II.
The postponement rules were not added to the calendar by any rabbinical authority. The chronology of the Flood in the book of Genesis reveals that intercalation and the rules of postponement were part of the Hebrew Calendar from the beginning of man's history. The time frame for observing the feasts of God was established at the creation of the world. On the first day of Creation, God established the weekly cycle. On the fourth day, He arranged the sun and the moon in the heavens to begin the lunar cycle and the solar cycle. These cycles are the basis for the calculations of the Hebrew Calendar.
The rules of the Hebrew Calendar were ordained by God when the first lunar cycle began. They were given to the children of Israel at the time of the Exodus and were committed to the priesthood when the Old Covenant was established. They were preserved by the priests and passed down to the days of Jesus and the apostles, who observed the feasts of God on the days proclaimed by the priesthood.
The calendar that God committed to the priesthood is known today as the Calculated Hebrew Calendar. It has accurately calculated God's holy days for thousands of years. No calendar devised by man can equal the accuracy of the Calculated Hebrew Calendar.
Relying on the visible crescent is not accurate because the crescent cannot be sighted until part of the lunar cycle has passed and the moon is no longer new. Furthermore, the visible crescent of the first month is not the basis that God ordained for setting the months. Psalm 81 testifies that the first day of the seventh month, Tishri—the only month that begins with a holy day—is the point from which His feast days are to be calculated.
The correct day of the week for observing Tishri 1, the Feast of Trumpets, cannot be determined without applying the rules of postponement in years when the calculation of the new moon falls outside the limits set by the weekly cycle. Postponements adjust the beginning of the months so that Tishri 1, the first day of the seventh month, fits the sequence of week days at the end of the sixth month. The rules of postponement ensure that the weekly cycle continues from each month to the next and from year to year.
RULE ONE
When the Molad of Tishri or advancement occurs on a Sunday, Wednesday, or Friday, the declaration of Tishri 1 is advanced one day to a Monday, Thursday or Saturday (Sabbath) respectively.
RULE TWO
When the Molad of Tishri occurs at noon (18 hours 0 parts) or later, the declaration of Tishri 1 is advanced to the next day.
RULE THREE
When the Molad of Tishri of a common year falls on Tuesday, at or after 9 hours and 204 parts, the declaration of Tishri 1 is advanced to Wednesday. The application of Rule One advances the declaration one more day to Thursday.
RULE FOUR
When the Molad of Tishri of a common year immediately following an intercalary year occurs on a Monday, at or after 15 hours and 589 parts, the declaration of Tishri 1 advanced to Tuesday.
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